West Virginia's Rural Bridges

Posted October 30, 201212 yr

Having explored much of West Virginia, I have surprisingly not posted up as many photographs of their bridges and tunnels as I have of other states. With this update, I take on the task of photographing and documenting many of their rural and historic spans.

I begin in the New River valley with the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Piney Creek Subdivision Bridge that spans the New River at Prince. This three-span Parker through truss bridge was constructed by the A&P Roberts Company and Pendoyd Iron Works of Pendoyd, Pennsylvania in 1899 for the C&O’s Piney Creek Subdivision. It parallels West Virginia Route 41 and climbs Piney Gorge to a small rail yard at Raleigh.

Adjacent to the railroad span is the Thomas Buford Pugh Memorial Bridge, a two-lane, three-span through-truss that carries West Virginia Route 41 over the New River. The Parker through truss was constructed in 1931.

In September 2011, the bridge weight limit was reduced from 15 tons to 3 tons after a broken structural member was discovered. In addition, a nine-foot vertical clearance was imposed. Official inspections began to held every three months, with various West Virginia Division of Highway (DOH) employees viewing the crack for any movement every few days.

In March 2012, the DOH announced that their preferred option would be to rebuild the bridge on top of the existing piers, which would be cheaper and quicker than building a new bridge at a new location. The new bridge would open in the third quarter of 2013, but would require closing the existing New River span for six to eight months beginning in March 2013. On April 30, the DOH announced that it will construct a replacement span downstream from the existing span, avoiding the need for a 57-mile detour. Construction on the bridge, which would include two-lanes with an eight-foot pedestrian and bike path could take three years, although no start date has been set. The estimated cost is $10.5 million.

It is unfortunate that I must mention the eventual replacement of two aging Bramwell bridges. I covered one of those bridges earlier in the year. But thanks to the West Virginia Division of Highways, aesthetics are being taken into consideration (renderings within the link) and the replacement spans will most likely be trusses painted silver, black or blue depending on the bridge. It looks fantastic.

One of those spans is the Kate Hewltt Bridge that carries Mercer County Route 20/20 over the Bluestone River in Bramwell. Constructed in 1915 by the Virginia Bridge and Iron Company of Roanoke, Virginia, the two span riveted and bolted pony truss was built with stone masonry abutments and a reinforced concrete pier. The preferred alternative calls for a new pony truss to be built in-place.

The other is the Yon-Peraldo Memorial Bridge that carries Mercer County Route 20/5/Bloch Street is nearby. Constructed in 1930 by the Virginia Bridge and Iron Company, the bridge consists of two riveted Warren pony trusses supported on stone masonry abutments and a stone masonry solid pier. The preferred alternative calls for a new two-span truss to be built in-place.

In Bluefield is the Grant Street Bridge that crosses the Norfolk Southern (NS) Railroad Bluefield Yard. The two Warren trusses were completed in 1941 by the Virginia Bridge Company of Roanoke, Virginia and a rehabilitation project was finished on October 28, 1992 by Platnick Steel and Engineering Company of Bluefield, Virginia.

The bridge affords a great wide vantage point of downtown.

One of my favorite crossings in the state is the Fayette Station Bridge across the New River, connecting the now nonexistent communities of Fayette and South Fayette.

The truss span was contracted out to the Virginia Bridge and Iron Company of Roanoke, Virginia 1in 1889, but the actual builder may have been the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio. The bridge replaced a ferry that connected two burgeoning coal-mining communities founded in 1873 along the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. It was the first vehicular bridge over the New River in Fayette County. The crossing did not become the property of the state until the State Road Commission was formed in 1933.

On March 23, 1978, less than one year after the New River Gorge Bridge (U.S. Route 19) was completed, the Fayette Station Bridge was closed to vehicular traffic due to deteriorating conditions. At the time of its closure, the bridge carried West Virginia State Route 82. Reconstruction of the bridge occurred between 1997 and 1998, and during its refurbishment, the piers were rebuilt and a new bridge deck was installed. Two exterior pedestrian walkways were also constructed.

The Fayette Station Bridge was rededicated on November 8, 1998 as the Tunney Hansaker Bridge and today carries southbound West Virginia Secondary Route 82 over the New.

Of course, it can't be passed up - but the New River Gorge Bridge is immediately adjacent. The now iconic span carries US 19 over the New River northeast of Fayetteville. It is the largest arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere and the second highest crossing in the United States.

During the late 1960s and 1970s, US 19 was widened to four-lanes south of U.S. Route 60 near Summersville to Beckley and Interstates 64 and 77, and rebuilt as a "super-two" highway north to Interstate 79. The upgraded highway, dubbed Corridor L, allowed north-south traffic to efficiently flow through the central highlands of the state without having to travel through Charleston and without having to use the northern half of the West Virginia Turnpike, a toll road, which was two-lanes and overburdened. The first section, the Oak Hill bypass, was completed in 1965. The section south to US 19 in Raleigh County was opened in 1973, and another segment from Lansing-Edmond Road in Lansing north to the US 60 interchange opened a year later. Further sections north to Interstate 79 were two-lanes and was completed in phases from 1973 to 1978, with a second carriageway added in 1995 to 1996. At the center of Corridor L, however, was the New River gorge, containing depths of 1,000 feet.

To bridge the gorge, the Michael Baker Corporation was given the task by the West Virginia Department of Highways to design a New River crossing for Corridor L. A contract to the American Bridge Division of US Steel was awarded in 1973, with a bid amount of $33,984,000.

Construction began one year later, and a four-tower cable-guiding system was used to help position steel into their respective positions. Originally designed to be a painted arch span, US Steel utilized its then-new Corten weathering steel. Corten steel was a group of steel alloys that obviated the need for paint and would weather into a rust-like appearance after being exposed to the elements for several years. The result was an immediate cost saving of $300,000 and additional savings of $1 million per each time the painted span would need refurbishment. The rust-like appearance also blended better with the natural terrain of the New River gorge.

On October 22, 1977, the New River Gorge Bridge, carrying U.S. Route 19/Corridor L, opened to traffic. Previously, US 19 crossed over New River at Prince, today's West Virginia Route 41. The only other crossings in the vicinity were West Virginia Route 16 (formerly US 21), and the narrow and dangerous West Virginia County Route 82 via the Fayette Station Bridge. The latter took nearly 45 minutes as the roadway was confined to one-lane in some sections. The new span, in comparison, shortened the crossing to just under one minute.

The construction of the bridge also involved the completion of four-lane US 19 from Lansing-Edmond Road south to the Oak Hill bypass.

Heading south, the Avis Bridge in Hinton formerly carried West Virginia Route 107 over the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad (C&O).

The Avis Bridge had seemingly early hopes. Hinton had incorporated in 1880 and was becoming a boom town along the C&O due to the shipment of coal, the in-town railroad yard and its associated machine shops. Avis, which was founded a decade later, was connected to Hinton via a steep roadway. A primary route out of the towns to the south was through Avis and across the C&O tracks just outside of the yard, a sometimes dangerous and daunting task as crossing the rail line was tempting fate when the tracks were busy. The addition of the steep grade to Avis did not assist in the matter, as it made the movement of freight difficult during the horse and buggy era – and even afterwards when automobiles began to proliferate. By 1922, a traffic count noted 1,110 automobiles, 1,755 pedestrians, 212 trucks, 180 double horse teams, 53 one horse teams, 70 saddle horses and 12 motorcycles used the busy crossing, which was closed for up to four hours a day by trains.

Seeing the need for an overhead crossing to improve safety and to eliminate delays, the C&O offered $75,000 to construct a steel structure if the county and state would purchase the right-of-way. But while the parties were cooperative early on, differences in alignment and grade allowed for the roadway led to lengthy delays. The first meeting between the C&O and the county and state was held in July 1924, but the state and railroad could not come to an agreement on the location or type of bridge. The railroad preferred an alignment that would have given the roadway a 14% grade, something the state was not interested in. Time passed and the grade crossing of the C&O became more dangerous and congested. In August 1927, the C&O presented a plan with an 11% grade and two sharp curves, which was rejected by the city. The city put forth a proposal for a bridge at the end of Park Avenue, but its location was too far from Avis and the C&O was therefore not interested. At a meeting in September, the C&O asked the council to rescind its action in which the railroad was ordered to build a bridge at Avis according to state plans. The council agreed and a committee was formed to find an outside engineer to work out a plan with the C&O for a bridge over the railroad tracks that would comply with the city, state and railroad’s demands.

The C&O met again wit the city on February 1, 1928 and agreed to a plan previously submitted by the state. The railroad agreed to give the city $75,000 and would have no input in the bidding or contracting process. The remainder would be handled by Hinton, who felt that $75,000 would be about half of the actual cost of the actual bridge. The new bridge was proposed at the base of Main and Pleasant Streets. When the contracts were advertised, one of the more notable standouts was the Luten Bridge Company of York, Pennsylvania who visited Hinton to pitch their proposal. The span was designed by Daniel B. Luten, a famous artist and engineer who had a bevy of beautifully built spans under his belt. A contract was awarded to Luten’s company on August 7 for $75,556. Construction began within ten days employing 16 to 20. A contract for the approaches was also let to Mirable and Defuria of Welch. The engineers for the bridge project were E.N. Blackwood and C.M. Gilson.

Construction progressed rather smoothly except that the base of the piers had to be constructed further into the earth than originally anticipated. With each passing the day, the bridge – a reinforced concrete through arch, took shape. On June 28, 1929, the bridge was completed with one detail that had been left undone – the ornamental lighting. The design by Luten called for ornamental lighting to be installed at the expense of the city. Conduit and wiring for 14 lights were installed, but the city decided that there was sufficient lighting at each end of the span. With finances a bit tight, the city stated that it would come back and install the ornamental lighting at a later date. The opening day was heralded by many. Thousands came to celebrate the new span, and fireworks were lit during the day. A baseball game was held at the C&O baseball park and speeches were delivered at the Hotel McCreery.

But a local businessman, G.K. Dick of Avis, along with other businessmen, sought an injunction to prevent the closure of the Avis Crossing. A temporary restraining order was granted by Judge C.M. Ward on June 28, 1929 with the case scheduled to be heard in April 1930 in Circuit Court. In a written opinion from February 1, 1930, Ward said that the city had the right to close the crossing, but that if Dick and others had suffered damages or injury, the junction would continue until the amount of damages could be determined by a jury. Because of the injunction, the C&O withheld final payment of $40,000 to the city pending the outcome of the trial. The delay cost the city $200 a month.

The jury, after hearing both sides, deliberated for an hour and a half and sided with Dick for $2,000. The case was appealed to the judge but was promptly overturned, leading the city to appeal to the Supreme Court. On July 30, Ward warned that the injunction would be permanent unless the city paid Dick $2,000. On November 25, the Appellate Court of Charleston wrote that the Circuit Court was without jurisdiction to proceed in the case and wrote that “if the property abutted on a street suffers damage from the action of a part of the street, he is ordinarily limited to an action at law for his compensation.” Based on this, the Supreme Court on December 25 vacated the decision by Ward in the Circuit Court.

With that, the at-grade crossing at Avis was closed immediately. The C&O delivered a check in the amount of $40,602.48 on January 23, 1931. The Avis Bridge was in use until 2003 when a new bridge was opened. The ornamental lighting fixtures were never installed.